The Argentina defender arrived from Sporting Lisbon for £16m, following on from the arrivals of £28.8m midfielder Ander Herrera and £27m left-back Luke Shaw.

And it meant United have now spent more than they did in 2007, when they bought Anderson, Nani and Owen Hargreaves, loaned Carlos Tevez and forked out £62m.

United have also spent £195m in the last five transfer windows and broke their club record to sign Juan Mata for £37.1m pounds in January 2014. Their net spend over the same time stands at a staggering £181.5m.

In contrast, Chelsea's total outlay in the last five transfer windows currently stands at £286.6m, though their net spend is less than half of that figure at £135.8m.

Premier League champions Manchester City, on the other hand, have a net spend of £145.3m and total outlay of £208.7m.

Over the same period, Arsenal have spent £160.8m but have a net spend of just £82.9m. Liverpool's net spend is slightly higher at £83.6m, having splashed £199.1m in all.